A Solar Panel's Life after Death

Every sustainable home has at least one solar panel. PV panels help with generating free electricity, living off the grid, and reducing our carbon footprint. At least that is what we think now, as we only install solar panels, without collecting too much solar waste. However, within a few years, solar waste would be a tremendous problem, should solar panels not be recyclable. Fortunately, the technology is available to recycle solar panels of both types: silicon based and thin-film based. Using these technologies, almost all components can be recycled or reused.

The infographic explores the different processes that businesses use to save solar panels from becoming a burden to the society, and why recycling them will help save the planet as well as boost the economy. The article also includes an interactive map, complementing the infographic, as it breaks it down which countries generate the most solar waste at present as well as how much solar waste is expected from them in the coming decades.